United Airlines flight from San Francisco to Honolulu returns following medical emergency
A United Airlines flight from San Francisco bound for Honolulu Monday evening turned around over the Pacific Ocean about two hours into the flight because of an onboard medical emergency.
United flight 1509 departed San Francisco International Airport at 4:35 p.m. PDT Monday and was at 38,000 feet when it began its return to SFO at about 6:30 p.m. PDT, according to aviation industry website AviationSource News.
During the return, UA1509 transmitted the 7700 transponder code to air traffic controllers, which indicates an emergency on board, AviationSource News reported.
The Boeing 777-200 returned safely to SFO and landed at 8:09 p.m. PDT.
"United flight 1509 from San Francisco to Honolulu safely returned to SFO following a medical incident onboard," said United spokesperson Anoushah Rasta. "First responders met the airplane at the gate, and we made arrangements for the other passengers to complete their journeys as soon as possible."
There were no details immediately available about the nature of the medical emergency or the condition of the person affected.